Saddam: My family has not fled

President Saddam Hussein today denied that any of his close family had fled abroad and said his own and his relatives' fate remained tied to that of the Iraqi people.

Responding to speculation that the elder of his two wives, Sajida, and his daughters had fled Iraq, Saddam said in a statement read out on Iraqi state television: "The rumour that the family of President Saddam Hussein has left Iraq is a repeat of a lie that was previously voiced by the Pentagon. The immediate family of leader Saddam Hussein is part and parcel of the great and larger Iraqi family.

"President Saddam Hussein has linked his fate and the fate of his immediate family to the honourable values of the Iraqi people and the fate of Saddam Hussein's immediate family will be similar to the fate of the bigger family of Iraq."

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, yesterday reiterated the calls for Saddam to resign, saying he should make a "sacrifice" that could end the war.

Iraqi officials have dismissed such demands, saying US President George W. Bush should quit instead.

Saddam has also appeared on Iraqi state television several times since the war began to douse speculation that he had been killed or fled the country.